Travelling Vets - 22. TV Chapter 22

“That is not what I wanted to hear,” I commented, as the radio programme returned to playing music, just as my mobile rang, and the caller ID was Mum. “Hello dear, I am just checking in that you are all ok, as I have just heard the latest update,” Mums aid when I answered the call. “Yes, we are fine, I have Jessica, Jake, the Colonel and 11 other soldiers all bunkered down here as well. We should be ok, although this will be the first real test of how strong we built this compound, and I have faith that we will get through with minimal damage,” I replied.

The house phone rang and Marcus went to answer it, and I listened as best as I could to that conversation, as I continued to assure Mum that we will be ok, and to remind her that it isn’t the first cyclone I have been in my lifetime, which had Mum chuckling, before ending the call. “Yes, that will be fine, just park in the undercover car park and one of us will open the shutters to let you into the compound, bye,” I heard Marcus say. “More guests?” I asked.

“Yep, our immediate neighbours, they thought they would be able to ride it out, but now that the cyclone path has changed, they are worried, so they called to ask if they can shelter with us,” Marcus replied. With the new station owner’s husband and wife, and their two staff and two work dogs, included at the compound, it was starting to get a little crowded in the living area, Marcus and I retreated to the master cabin to be with the boys for the night, who we were pleased to see were asleep.

We took turns napping during the night, as we continued to listen to the half-hourly updates, and at 1 am, the cyclone crossed the coast, at DeGrey Station, and by 3 am, it was downgraded to a Category 4 cyclone, as it continued southeast directly to Marble Bar and us, as the winds increased and the rain began to get heavier. When it was supposed to be daylight at 6.15 am, it was still very dark outside, with the winds howling outside.

“The Department of Emergency Services and the Bureau of Meteorology have just updated the alert for the fast-moving cyclone that crossed the Pilbara Coast at 1 am this morning. The category Three cyclone, named Faith is continuing to head inland. Currently located 42 kilometres northwest of the town of Marble Bar. The current tracking of this cyclone is southeast at 12 kilometres an hour and is heading just east of Marble Bar and neighbouring stations and communities that are now on Red Alert, as the cyclone heads in that direction…”

I dialled the number for the house, and the Colonel answered the call. “Sir, it is heading straight at us, so no one is to go outside, as it will be over us in about three hours,” I said, “Copy that, we are as ready as we can be,” the Colonel replied before ending the call.

After a very worrying four hours of strong winds and very heavy rain, I could hear the noise ease a little, as I turned on the radio to get the latest update. “The Department of Emergency Services and the Bureau of Meteorology have just updated the alert for the fast-moving cyclone that crossed the Pilbara Coast at 1 am this morning. The category Three cyclone, named Faith is continuing to head inland. Currently located 42 kilometres southeast of Limestone Station, which is 8 kilometres east of Marble Bar and one kilometre south of the airport.

The current tracking of this cyclone is southeast at 9 kilometres an hour and is now heading further inland… News from DeGrey Station is that there was significant damage to all of the buildings at the homestead and that it will take some time to repair everything.”

“Sounds like a direct hit over our station,” I said to Marcus and the boys, “I hope that the homestead and the vet clinic survived,” Marcus responded, “I guess we will have to wait and see,” I replied, as hit the remote button to open the shutters that cover the door to our cabin, before unlocking and opening the door, where I was faced with a gust of wind in my face, and I stepped out and closed the door quickly behind me.

Pressing the remote button for the kitchen door, I waited for it to slowly open, and I saw a group of relieved eyes looking at me, which made me chuckle, as the door was unlocked and I stepped inside. “Hello all, is everyone ok?” I asked, and everyone said they were fine.

“Still a bit gusty outside, but the cyclone is currently 40 kilometres dues east of us and heading away to the southeast, having gone over the top of Limestone Station,” I announced. Jake looks a little worried when I said this and I patted him on the shoulder, “It is fine mate, you can stay here while repairs are been made, “ I said quietly to him.

“Jake and I will head up that way in about an hour, once the winds have died down a bit more, The courtyard garden outside is a little battered but still standing, so that’s a good indication that we have no real damage here,” I announced to everyone. “I will send four men with you, just in case you need a bit of assistance, and 4 to help clean up at your neighbours here, the rest will go and check on the training camps,” the Colonel offered. “Thank you, sir, much appreciated,” I replied.

“When we arrived at the Marble Bar Airfield, there was total devastation, all the buildings had been flattened completely, which shocked us a lot. “I don’t like the look of this boss,” Jake said to me, as I took a series of photographs on my mobile phone before we headed for the homestead, where we found a very similar outcome, with just the main homestead still standing, the sheds and cottages were all totally destroyed, and once again I began to photograph the devastation that we now faced.

Once all the photos were taken, I make a phone call. “Hello Mum, we are at Limestone now, the homestead itself is still standing, with some broken windows, with the roof is still in place, but all the rest so the buildings are all flattened to the ground, absolutely nothing, and that applies to the all the buildings at the airport too,” I said to Mum.

“As long as you are all ok, that is what is important dear,” Mum replied. “Yes, we are all fine, we had Jake, Jess, some of the soldiers, plus our neighbours all gathered in the living area of the house, while Marcus, the boys and I stayed in our cabin for the duration of the storm. I will email you the photos that I have just taken, so you can see the damage. Got to go now, just wanted to check in,” I informed Mum, who sounded happy that we were all safe.

We managed to locate the front-end loader under all of the rubble and managed to get it operational and out from under all the metal, so we could start work on gathering all of the sheets of metal that is scattered everywhere, into a neat pile. Jake gathered all the rest of his belongings, which thankfully he had packed up from his cottage and stored away in the homestead, and he placed them in the Ute to take back to the Compound.

By the end of the day, we had managed to clean up a fair amount of the remains of the cottages and sheds, and we had dug a deep hole ready to bury anything that was now rubbish or won’t be kept and we spent an hour at the airport cleaning up some of the remains of the buildings there too, before heading back to Corunna Base. The army found that both training camps were badly damaged, so a basic cleanup was done, before moving on to starting to help out with cleaning up damage from other places around the district.

The town of Marble Bar received some damage, with some houses losing their roof, but most of it was just trees and small sheds that had been damaged, and they borrowed our front-end loader to assist with the cleanup. Jake, Marcus and I spend a week finishing off, clearing away all of the rubbish scattered everywhere around the Base first, then back at Limestone Station, and the Shire Council dealt with the mess at the airport, in town and all of the roads in the area.

Jake and I also spent a large amount of time assessing the damage to the water points and fences, which had also received a lot of damage and would need repairs or replacement. We were pleased to find all of the stock unharmed, and I had already made a call out for two truckloads of hay to be delivered to the station to keep them happy, while the feed recovers.

The Army headed to Port Hedland after four days, where they would be based until they return to Perth, and we stayed at the compound for two weeks, to help with cleaning up in the region, including our neighbour’s station, which had some minimal damage, as well as the town. Once I was happy that we had done all we could for the meantime, and Jake was happy with what needed to be done, we retrieved our plane, which has received no damage at all, while secured in the bunker, and flew home to Kununurra.

After a few days of relaxing, Marcus and I sat down to discuss the future of our investments in the Pilbara, and eventually, we decided not to rebuild the Marble Bar clinic, so we informed Jessica and her team, that they would be transferring back to head office, now that all the stock checks had been completed on all the stations that were affected by the cyclone, we also decided to put Limestone Station on the market, as we were spending more time away from the area.

Once the sale of the station is finalised, Jake will be moving to Corunna Base, where he will be put in charge of caretaking the grounds at the military museum and at the complex where he will reside, which he was happy to do.